Sen. Jeff Flake douses speculation he'll run for president in 2020

U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake dampened speculation about his presidential ambitions on Sunday, saying he didn’t think he would be the conservative candidate he wants to challenge President Donald Trump in 2020.

Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” the retiring Arizona Republican said he still thinks someone should contest the GOP nomination, but there are better options.

“I’ve said all along that somebody needs to run on the Republican side, if nothing else to remind Republicans what it means to be conservative, what being a conservative really means, and what it means to be decent as well," Flake said.

“I think the future of the party is with people with an optimistic vision moving ahead. I don’t think that will be me. I think there are better candidates out there.”

Flake did not immediately respond to a request for elaboration.

Flake was driven into political retirement last year after his support among GOP voters cratered because of his many run-ins with Trump, usually over the president’s rhetorical style.

“Arizona is still nominally a Republican state,” Flake said. “We have a voter registration advantage of, I believe, still about 200,000 statewide. But you cannot run as someone who is just tied at the hip with the president and win statewide. Voters in Arizona are rejecting that, and I think we’re seeing that elsewhere in the country as well.”

Flake had been asked whether a Democrat could win the state in the 2020 presidential election, but his answer suggested an appraisal of McSally’s run. Flake said he did think the Democrats could carry Arizona in 2020.

In August 2009, Rep. Jeff Flake spent a week of his August break from Capitol Hill living a primitive, Gilligan's Island-style existence by himself on Jabonwod, Marshall Islands, a remote island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Here he is with a big-eyed bream. Special for The Republic

Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake address members of the media at McCain's Phoenix office on May 28, 2014, following the release of a report stating by the Veterans Affairs that at least 1,700 veterans at the medical center were not registered on the proper waiting list, putting them at risk in the convoluted scheduling process. Charlie Leight/The Republic

Sen. Jeff Flake, in a 2015 photo, helped block an Obama-era rule protecting the privacy of Internet consumers. Flake, R-Ariz., has characterized the rule as a power grab by the Federal Communications Commission. Tom Tingle/The Republic

U.S. Sens. John McCain (right) and Jeff Flake talk with the press after their roundtable discussion with President Obama at the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in Phoenix on March 13, 2015. Mark Henle/The Republic

McSally represents an evenly divided, Tucson-based congressional district, but ran as a loyal supporter of Trump.

Flake also said he would support Democratic suggestions that legislation he backs to protect special counsel Robert Mueller be tied to a must-pass spending bill that would force the Senate to vote on the matter.

Last week, Flake indicated he would not support any further judicial nominations until the Senate voted on a bill to protect the special counsel and his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible obstruction of justice.

Flake said the bill to protect Mueller passed the Senate Judiciary Committee in the spring with rare bipartisan support.

“Since that time, we’ve processed 50 judges,” Flake said. “What I’m saying is this has to be a priority now.

“We have a situation where the president has fired the attorney general and has installed and given responsibility for the Mueller investigation to somebody who has not been confirmed by the Senate and somebody who has expressed hostility to the Mueller investigation," Flake said.

“How in the world my colleagues don’t see this as a priority now, I just don’t understand. It does need to come to the Senate floor, and I think it’s worth using a little leverage here,” he said.

Flake also criticized the White House for dragging its feet on the slaying of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Turkey.

The CIA concluded with high confidence Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was involved in the apparent murder, according to the Washington Post.

Asked about it on Saturday, Trump praised the kingdom as a “a truly spectacular ally in terms of jobs and economic development.” and said he has to “take a lot of things into consideration” before making any U.S. response.

“Values have to undergird our foreign policy everywhere,” he said. “Obviously, we recognize there’s realpolitik and you take the world as it is rather than as you want it to be. But that would dictate that you have to deal with the truth here. It looks more and more like the truth is that the crown prince was involved, that he likely ordered it.”

Flake said that beyond Khashoggi’s death, the Saudis have worsened the war in Yemen and broken commitments to the U.S. over that conflict.